FONDULAC DISTRICT LIBRARY

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING

September 24, 2007

 

            Members of the Fondulac District Library Board of Trustees met in regular session on Monday, September 24, 2007.  President Herring called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m.

 

            On roll call the following members were present:  Mrs. Cole, Mr. Goff, Mr. Hale, Mrs. Herring, Mrs. Humphrey, Mr. Johnston and Mr. Lasswell.  Also present were Ms. Falasz-Peterson, Director, Mrs. Hensley, Assistant Director and Mrs. Geier, Business Manager.

 

            M/S/P (Johnston/Hale) to accept the minutes of the August meeting of the Board of Trustees.

 

            The bills were presented for payment.

 

            M/S/P (Cole/Johnston) to accept the Treasurer’s Report and payment of bills subject to audit.

 

            Treasurer’s Report:

GENERAL FUND CHECKING

08/27/07  Balance                                                                                             1,500.47

08/29/07  Deposit – County taxes                                                                 559,639.48

08/31/07  Deposit – Fines, fees, misc.                                                                 327.80

08/31/07  Interest 3066700474                                                                                3.28

09/06/07  Checks issued – Payroll                                                                 (23,262.73)

09/06/07  Checks issued – Utilities                                                                  (3,126.16)

09/06/07  Check issued – PJ Star                                                                        (221.00)

09/06/07  Check issued – Reaching Forward South                                            (180.00)

09/13/07  Deposit – Fines, fees, misc.                                                                 581.21

09/13/07  Transfer – Checking to Investment                                             (400,000.00)

09/13/07  Transfer – Checking to Working Cash                                         (105,561.00)

09/13/07  Transfer – Checking to Reserve                                                      (9,939.00)

09/18/07  Transfer – Investment to Checking                                                   5000.00

09/20/07  Checks issued – Payroll                                                                 (22,988.29)

09/20/07  Check issued – AT&T                                                                          (196.36)

09/20/07  Check issued – Local Legacies                                                            (125.00)

09/20/07  Checks issued – Life insurance                                                             (52.00)

 

09/21/07  Deposit – Fines, fees, misc.                                                                 210.70

09/21/07  Deposit – IL Clean Energy Grant                                                    19,374.00

09/24/07  Transfer – Investment to Checking                                                32,500.00

09/24/07  Checks issued – Bills                                                                      (52,037.86)

09/24/07  Balance                                                                                             1,447.54

 

GENERAL FUND SAVINGS

08/27/07  Balance                                                                                             3,505.52

08/31/07  Interest 3619307057                                                                                  .41

09/24/07  Balance                                                                                             3,505.93

 

GENERAL FUND INVESTMENTS

08/27/07  Balance                                                                                           20,998.94

08/31/07  Interest 7139120393                                                                              74.61

09/13/07  Transfer – Checking to Investment                                              400,000.00

09/18/07  Transfer – Investment to Checking                                                 (5,000.00)

09/24/07  Transfer – Investment to Checking                                               (32,500.00)

09/24/07  Balance                                                                                         383,573.55

 

WORKING CASH FUND

08/27/07  Balance                                                                                         143,736.36

08/31/07  Interest 7139120401                                                                            703.24

09/13/07  Transfer – Checking to Working Cash                                          105,561.00

09/24/07  Balance                                                                                         250,000.60

 

RESERVE FUND

08/27/07  Balance                                                                                      1,780,074.24

08/31/07  Interest 7139120419                                                                         7,011.98

09/13/07  Transfer – Checking to Reserve                                                       9,939.00      

09/24/07  Balance                                                                                      1,797,025.22

 

ENTERPRISE FUND

08/27/07  Balance                                                                                           32,532.13

08/31/07  Interest 6900342215                                                                                6.45

09/06/07  Check issued – Cilco                                                                             (43.26)

09/13/07  Deposit – Rent                                                                                     420.00

09/21/07  Deposit – Rent                                                                                     250.00

09/24/07  Checks issued – Bills                                                                           (199.33)

09/24/07  Balance                                                                                           32,965.99

 

            Mrs. Geier made five authorized transfers this month.  The first three transfers were from the checking account.  The first on the 13th was to the working cash fund for $105,561, the second on the 13th was to the investment account for $400,000 and the third on the 13th was to the reserve fund for $9,939.  The fourth and fifth transfers were from the investment account to the checking account.  The fourth transfer was for $5,000 and the fifth for $32,500.

 

            Ms. Falasz-Peterson reminded the board that the library will be closed on Thursday, September 27th for staff in-service.  The staff will be trained on the new circulation system by RSA staff.  She also reported that she and Mrs. Hensley will be at ILA October 10-12.

 

            Ms. Falasz-Peterson reported on highlights from the annual report.  Attendance has increased by approximately 17%.  She reported that circulation is up in some areas and down in others.  Ms. Falasz-Peterson will be looking at areas of the collection that need updated, children’s being one of the main areas.  We also had over 160,000 hits on our website.

 

            Ms. Falasz-Peterson and Mrs. Hensley have decided to make the Nancy grant available to staff for continuing education. 

 

            Ms. Falasz-Peterson reported that we have received the draft of our annual audit.  She is working on the MD & A letter.  The auditor did call to inform us that due to new accounting standards, our management representation letter will state that we have a significant deficiency.  This is a new accounting standard designed to protect the auditors.  There is really nothing we can do to improve it since we don’t have a full-fledged accountant on staff that would be able to meet all of the auditing standards. The auditor stated that we do a fine job at keeping the books and we could probably create some financial statements, but could no way keep up with all of the disclosures that are required.  The auditor stated that the library is too small to hire an accountant to keep up with the disclosures and hiring an accountant would not be cost beneficial for the library.  Auditors are required to separate themselves more from the client since they prepare the financial statements and the way they do this is the management representation letter that Mrs. Herring will sign.

 

            Last week, Ms. Falasz-Peterson received information on an Association of Fundraising Professionals workshop on fundraising basics.  Mrs. Hensley attended and reported on the workshop.  The workshop focused on ethical issues with fundraising, motivating volunteers, writing grants and fundraising proposals, direct mail ideas, beginning a planned giving program, building relationships, making the ask and providing stewardships to people who decide to contribute.  Mrs. Hensley had a handout for the board regarding motivating volunteers which she felt was one of the more interesting parts of the seminar.  She stated that there was a lot of information about the Caterpillar Foundation in the grant writing portion of the seminar.  Caterpillar now funds globally, not locally.  The speaker suggested getting to know people at the foundation because they rarely fund cold requests.  Caterpillar will not be the sole contributor or the first contributor to a project.  It is also very important to have a Caterpillar connection (i.e. how many of their employees are served by our business, are there any Caterpillar employees on our board) is important.  It was also stated that most contributions are below $25,000, those who get more than that have a long history with their foundation.  There are no grant deadlines, so a grant can be submitted at any time.

 

            M/S/P (Lasswell/Johnston) to go into executive session at 6:55 p.m. to discuss personnel.  On roll call all present voting yea.

 

            M/S/P (Goff/Hale) to return to regular session at 7:11 p.m.  On roll call all present voting yea.

 

            Ms. Falasz-Peterson and Mrs. Hensley will be meeting with Fred Schlipf on October 26th.  Mrs. Herring suggested that Ms. Falasz-Peterson discuss with Mr. Schlipf what components in the building plan that would be appropriate for naming.  Mr. Goff stated that he is collecting items from his past experiences about naming and identifying potential donors to share.

             

            M/S/P (Johnston/Lasswell) to adopt levy ordinance #07-243.

 

            There was discussion on the ILSDO foundation.  Mr. Lasswell asked what fees could be incurred.  Ms. Falasz-Peterson replied that in the agreement it does state that the library would be responsible for any fees that were incurred during the process.  She checked with our ALS consultant Lee Logan, who stated we would be responsible, but generally there are no fees.  Mr. Goff asked if in addition to the ILSDO agreement, does the library need a companion document identifying the fund as a building fund.  Ms. Falasz-Peterson checked with Lee Logan regarding this question and was told that the money collected through this foundation would not require a separate bank account; it would just need to have its own line item in the budget.  She also inquired as to if the monies from this fund can be used for a referendum campaign and was told it does qualify.  Donations can also can be specified as to areas the money can be spent.  Ms. Falasz-Peterson reported that other area libraries that have used this foundation have been pleased with the way it works.  Mrs. Cole asked if the agreement can be terminated at any time, Mrs. Falasz-Peterson replied yes.  M/S/P (Hale/Johnston) to enter into an agreement with the ILSDO foundation.

 

            Mr. Hale reported that the East Peoria Fire Department has expressed interest in using our rental properties for training when the time comes.  There will be a small fee for this service.

 

            Mr. Hale moved to adjourn at 7:28 p.m.